This disclosure relates to digital maps. More specifically, this disclosure relates to extracting map features from an aerial image for inclusion in a digital map.
Digitally stored electronic maps are used to represent geographic information of an area and are displayed to users of mobile and other computing devices, for example, using any of a wide array of standalone map or direction application programs or apps. Electronic maps commonly include data describing various geographic features, such as built features (roads, buildings, etc.), geological features (rivers, lakes, etc.), political features (e.g., borders of countries, states, counties, etc.). The labelling and categorization of such features is often incomplete, which can limit the utility of current electronic maps. For example, electronic maps and graphical user interfaces for digital maps have entered wide use in ride sharing applications. When various map features such as parking lots are not well marked, determining a pick-up location for ride sharing customers can be difficult and inconvenient, wasting both the driver's and the rider's time. Current labelling of map features is typically done manually or by integrating existing data sets into an electronic map. However, existing data sets are incomplete, and manual entry of missing features is slow and inefficient, and is affected by human error. It is particularly difficult for feature labeling in electronic maps to keep pace with new development, such as the construction of new buildings or parking lots.